The Long Road Home
by ercarterfan
Summary: An overhead conversation makes them wonder if they are the only ones who can't see what everyone else see. Carby


The Long Road Home.

**Disclaimer: **Don't own them, don't claim to own them, never will own them they belong to other people.

_A/N: this is another one of my many single chapter stories right now, I don't have any plans to add to it that I know of, please enjoy!_

Doug wrapped his arms around his wife leaning his forehead against hers as they

stood on the roof of County. It had been nice to see everyone again. Now they had snuck up there to spend just a few minutes along reminiscing about the time when they were at County together. "You know Carter and Abby remind me of someone." He said holding onto her.

Carol gave him a soft smile, "and who might that be?"

Doug gave her a soft laugh, "us. It took us forever to get together."

"Yeah I know what you mean." She said as her eyes went out over the Chicago city skyline. "It's easy to miss how the most important person in your life is right in front of you but yet not see it until they are gone."

"I can't believe that I walked away from you like I did. I regret that every day of my life, but you're here with me now." He said softly kissing the top of her head.

"Carter's gone and done the same thing." Carol said turning now so that she was holding his hand as they were wrapped around her. "Do you think that they will see that they are meant for each other?"

"Yeah he did." Doug said resting his head on top of her. "From the sounds of it, what he needed all the time was right here, but he couldn't see it. Just like I couldn't see that everything I needed was right here in front of me. I was so wrapped up in what I had done and what I thought I needed I didn't look at the rest of the picture."

"She's probably hurt and confused by it all. Understanding why someone does what they do is often the hardest thing that you have to do." Carol thought back to the day that Doug left County. "I knew that you loved me and as hard as I tried I couldn't understand why you wouldn't stay for me. But after all this time I can finally say that I understand. I chased you to Seattle in the end because I couldn't stand to be with out you anymore."

"Walking away from everything was the hardest thing I ever had to do." He said softly, "I'm sure that one of them will open their eyes and realize that they have hurt the other, neither of them is to blame. Each doing what they thought that they needed to do at the time. Carter leaving to find what he thought he had lost, he never really did lose it. She's been right there all this time, he just can't see it."

"I hope that Abby can see just how much that boy loves her."

"You can see it when Carter looks at her. His eyes light up and his smile grows whenever she is near. They are miserable with out each other, but yet neither of them can bring themselves to swallow their pride and try to make amends with the other." Doug said.

"You never did swallow your pride and admit that you were miserable with out me." Carol said laughing.

"Ohh, I think the way that I said hello when you showed up in Seattle out of the blue, said everything that I needed it to." Doug said squeezing her gently. "Carter will see that he needs her soon. It took us awhile to realize it."

"Yeah it did." She said. "Maybe they just need a little help getting back to that place that they were once in."

"That they might, but don't you go and play matchmaker while we are here. I think it would be better if they got to the realization on their own." Doug said spinning her around so that she was facing him again. "It makes it so much better when you can find your way back to your soul-mate on your own."

"Okay, I promise that I won't meddle in their love affair while we are here." Carol said now leaning into him.

"Good." Doug chuckled holding onto her a little tighter now, "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't come to Seattle. I'd probably be a very lonely pediatrician."

Carol looked up at him, "that you would be. Everything works out in the end and you just have to have faith in that." She said.

Doug pulled her into him kissing her softly, "faith in love, that's all anyone can ever have. When two people aren't meant to be together, they will be together no matter how rough the road gets, how far apart that road leads them, it will always lead you home."

Carol looked up at him, "I've never heard love compared to a road."

Doug smiled down at her, "well it is." He said. "We all are on a journey and love is an often winding road that has lots of bumps, dips, hills, valleys and there are often detours along the way. For Carter and Abby, Africa was that detour. But he came home and that says a lot right there. He knew what he needed wasn't there for him. He hit a bump and detoured. They are in a valley right now neither of them can see the top of the hill that is there for them. Happiness for Carter and Abby is right around the next bend, but they have to walk the long trek to get up that hill to get around the bend, and try not to get detoured again before they get there, but eventually they will."

Carol had to laugh, "I see, and I suppose our detour was you running away to Seattle?"

Doug smiled shaking his head, "yeah you could say that it was, but look where we ended up so many years later, happy and together with each other and our girls, a family."

"That we did," She smiled up at him now looking into the eyes of her husband, "happily married with two beautiful girls."

Doug hugged her, "we'd better think about going, we can't hide out here forever anymore."

"I've heard that one before." Carol said.

"I miss those girls of ours." He said, "besides our plane leaves in four hours and we still have to say goodbye to everyone before we leave." He let go of her taking her hand in his.

"Okay, okay." She said putting squeezing his hand, "Doug do you really think that Carter and Abby will find their way back to each other?"

Doug put his arm around her pulling her close to him as they walked back towards the stairs to go back down to the ER. "Yeah I do."

Abby leaned over the rail now looking down at the street below. Doug and Carol hadn't seen her hiding over around the corner. But she had overheard everything that they had said about her and Carter. She couldn't help but take Doug's words to heart. She had been hurt when Carter left when she hadn't wanted him too. It was definitely a detour for them. All of this had been so confusing, she didn't want to swallow her pride and talk to Carter about it. She about jumped out of her skin when she heard a voice from behind her.

"I take it you heard all of that too." Carter said from his spot behind her.

"Christ Carter you scared me." She said turning around.

"Sorry about that, I was just taking a break and I love coming up here." He said. "What do you think about what Doug said? Do you believe any of it?"

"Yeah, I'll admit I haven't ever heard love compared to a long road before either that's a different analogy of the whole thing."

Carter stood up and walked over to her, "yeah it sure is, but he has a point. Doug's long winded but he did have a point."

"Do you think they know we overheard them?" She asked.

"No, I think that they think that they were up here alone, but you're never alone." He said looking at her, the words that he had heard going thru his head, he could see what Carol saw.

Abby looked up at him, her head cocked to one side as she thought for a minute before speaking seeing him looking at her, she could see what Doug had seen "Are they right?"

Carter wasn't sure what to say, he knew in his heart that she was the only person he could ever see himself with. He smiled at her, "I think that he might actually be on to something. I can say that I am sorry a hundred times for doing what I did, but I can't take away the fact that I did it."

"No you can't." She said, "and I can't change the way that I acted when you came back either, what do you say we let it be water under the bridge, a life lesson to say, and we try to start this again. Try being friends, taking things slowly, not picking up where we left off, but starting again with a clean slate."

Carter smiled at her, "baby steps all the way."

Abby held out her hand to him, "baby steps."

Doug pulled Carol into the stairwell. He had stopped walking when he heard the other voices on the roof, "looks like we are matchmakers after all."

Carol looked up at him smiling, "no they just finally found the bend in the road. It's not such a long road home after all."


End file.
